Robert L. Dishon: 1921 - 2006

Journalist stood up for values

Chicago Daily News reporter had quit an Ohio newspaper because of its support for Sen. Joseph McCarthy

September 02, 2006|By Trevor Jensen, Tribune staff reporter

Robert L. Dishon, a dapper dresser who loved to dance and tell stories, was a reporter at newspapers in Ohio and Wisconsin before joining the Chicago Daily News in 1966.

Mr. Dishon, 85, died Sunday, Aug. 27, at his brother-in-law's home in Canton, Ohio, five weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, said his sister-in-law, Constance Kocher. He lived near Three Oaks, Mich.

FOR THE RECORD - This corrected obituary replaces an erroneous obituary published Sept. 1, 2006. The original obituary has been deleted from the archives.

Mr. Dishon enjoyed a journalism career hand-in-hand with his wife, Colleen, a former Chicago Tribune editor known as "Koky" who died in December 2004.

The couple met at the Columbus Dispatch, where she was a reporter when he was hired after getting his journalism degree in 1949 from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

The Dishons were married for 54 years. A match philosophically, they quit the Dispatch in tandem because of the paper's support of Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis.) and his communist witch hunts. They both got jobs in Milwaukee, then went together to the Daily News in Chicago, where she was in features and he was a city desk reporter.

Colleen Dishon went on to the Tribune, where she's credited with inventing a host of sections including Tempo and KidNews.

"There wasn't a level of competition at all," said Colleen Dolan, a former Tribune advertising executive and friend of the Dishons. "I think he was extremely proud of her."

Mr. Dishon's standard response to accolades given his wife, or to almost anything that made him happy, was, "That's just dandy," Dolan said.

He did take some credit for her early success at the Dispatch. "He'd tell stories about how she could never write a lead [the first paragraph of a news story] and he'd always help her," Kocher said. "Then one day the editor said to him, `Colleen really knows how to write leads, you should learn from her.' "

Mr. Dishon left the Daily News in the late 1960s. For several years, he ran a news and feature service with his wife. He took care of the couple's business and domestic details, said Mary Knoblauch, a former editor and writing coach at the Tribune.

The Dishons bought a house near Three Oaks, Mich., in 1983, where he spent his retirement. He scoured the countryside for antiques and did some writing for antique journals, said his brother-in-law, Robert Kocher. They called the rural retreat "The Farm."

At their apartment in Chicago and their home in Michigan, the Dishons relished throwing huge parties, sometimes with live jazz bands and always with plenty of floor space cleared for dancing.

Mr. Dishon could waltz, jitterbug and "he loved a good vodka martini, with a lemon twist," Constance Kocher said.

Mr. Dishon was born in the small town of New Straitsville, Ohio, where he was president of his high school class. He had just started college when he was drafted into the Army for World War II.

His unit, the 203rd Engineer Combat Battalion, landed on Omaha Beach on June 7, 1944, the day after D-Day, Constance Kocher said.

But as the war wound down there was also time for fun. Mr. Dishon told how he and his comrades fixed up a four-wheel drive vehicle, which they regularly used for trips to Paris.

Journalism remained "the love of his entire life," his sister-in-law said. He read every newspaper he could get his hands on, offering unsolicited advice as he thumbed through the sections. "These young people," he'd grumble, "they don't know how to use the English language."

The Sunday New York Times was a must-read. When he was staying with his in-laws in Canton, local visitors would see him with the paper and say, "Oh, that's a liberal paper isn't it," Kocher said.

"Yes, it is," he'd quickly reply. "Is there a problem with that?"

In January, Mr. Dishon and his in-laws, Bob and Constance Kocher, took a trip to Hawaii, where they met with his sister, Doris Smith. Earlier this summer, he met with an attorney to discuss his affairs. The lawyer later spoke with Robert Kocher.

"The lawyer told me, `The man usually tells you about himself and what he did for the whole conversation," Kocher said. " `All Bob talked about was Koky.' "